The National Tourism Awards 2012-13 were given by Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for Human Resource Development, at a glittering Award Ceremony in Delhi last month. A total number of 86 awards were presented in various categories.
Addressing the audience, Tharoor said that tourism was a vital segment to leverage our culture and progress, and earn precious foreign exchange. According to him, the myriad of tourism opportunities in India, as well as the variety of cuisine and cultural experience that India offers, makes our country ‘truly incredible’. He urged stakeholders to promote not only the Incredible side of India, but the credible side of the country as well, in the global travel market. He opined that the ‘best of tourism’ is yet to happen in India, despite the nation being blessed with natural beauty, history, heritage and a vibrant culture. He further stated that, increasing tourist inflow was a challenge considering the fact that a small country like France, whose population is just around 5 per cent of India’s population, was able to attract 83 million tourists, almost 12 times the foreign tourist inflow in India. He outlined the number of steps that have been taken to facilitate the entry of tourists to the country. He expressed hope that this would enable the share of India in global tourism to increase from the present 0.6 per cent to 1 per cent in the year 2016.
Among the states, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh were jointly awarded first prize in the category of ‘Best State/UT: Comprehensive Development of Tourism.’ The second and third prizes in this category went to Kerala and Gujarat respectively. Kerala also bagged awards for the pioneering use of IT to boost tourist arrivals, the successful Kochi-Muziris Biennale and Kumarakom’s Responsible Tourism model. While Jammu & Kashmir was awarded in the category of Best State/UT under the North-East and J&K Region, Kumbh Mela, Allahabad, UP won the prize for the Best Civic Management of a tourist destination in Category ‘A’ city. The best Tourism Film Award went to MP State Tourism Development Corporation TV Commercial ‘Rang Hai’. Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad was awarded for the Best Airport (Class ‘X’ cities). Bangalore city Railway Station was awarded for Best Tourist Friendly Railway Station.
Andhra Pradesh was felicitated for best Film Promotion-friendly State. In the Best Heritage City category, Tourism Minister’s own constituency, Tirupati came out the winner. Two HMV drivers of Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation were picked up for this year’ s Atithidevo Bhava Award for their act of preventing a robbery on a tourist bus. Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Hyderabad was adjudged the Best Airport in the country. Other accolades for Andhra Pradesh included Best Maintained and Disabled-Friendly Monument for Golconda Fort Hyderabad; Best Film Promotion Friendly state, and ‘Best standalone convention centre – Leonia International Centre for Exhibition & Conventions, Hyderabad. The ‘Best Responsible Tourism Project’ award was bagged by ‘The Ladakh Eco – Tourism Initiatives’ while Sikkim bagged the award for the ‘Best Rural Tourism Project’.
Among the tour operators, the first prize in Inbound Tour Operator (Category I) was given to Le Passage to India and the second and third prizes were bagged by Kuoni Travels (India) and Thomas Cook India respectively. Among Tourist Transport Operator (Category I), first prize was given to Praveen Travels and the second prize was bagged by KTC (India).
The Lifetime Achievement Award in the Hospitality Sector was given to the historians Aman Nath and Francis Wacziarg for their pioneering work in creating international consciousness on the heritage of Shekhavati and also restoring some 30 properties across 10 states in India. The Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Hugh & Colleen Gantzer, who are an Indian writer-photographer husband-and-wife team. They launched the first travel column in a national daily in India in August, 1977.
Yatra Online was awarded as the Best Domestic Tour Operator (Rest of India) category. Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur, won the award for the Best Hotel in Five-Star Deluxe Category while the Best Heritage Hotel in Grand category went to Fateh Prakash Palace, Udaipur. ITC Maurya, New Delhi, won the award for Best Eco-friendly hotel.
